Phase one of £16m Brighton Dome refurbishment open to public

A Grade I building in Brighton that has housed a horse stable, hospital, roller rink and is now a leading arts venue has opened the doors today to its brand new ticket office.

Labelled 'phase one' in a set of multimillion pound renovations to the Royal Pavillon Estate, the funding, provided by the Brighton and Hove Arts Council and Heritage Lottery Fund, is said to go towards redeveloped facilities and conservation work.

Hosting the stage for an A-Z of artists, the 200-year-old arts venue has seen the likes of Abba in their 1974 Eurovision Song Contest Victory, to Ziggy Stardust, formally known as the late David Bowie who played the Brighton Dome five times over his star-studded career.

Plans for the heritage-led project have been in the works since 2013, but it was only in June of last year that strict criteria was set and designs were drawn up ahead of finally bringing the blueprints to life in December.

Victoria Willis, Interior Designer from ZST Architects and Mark Lane, Director of Square One Design Workshop Ltd who collaborated on the Dome's new ticket office design say that in their criteria for the space,"functionality was the most important thing whilst also having something that's really elegant".

"The experience for anybody coming in before would have been kind of woeful to be honest, this was a really dark room, the desk that was here was not fit for purpose and it was just archaic. And now, hopefully, we have transformed that. And people will be coming in to see there is a massive difference. But I think this ticks all the boxes."

Along from the refurbished ticket office are major renovations beginning in the Brighton Dome Corn Exchange and Studio Theatre, which will introduce increased capacity seating, viewing galleries, bar and café facilities and a dedicated artist's creation space.

Brighton Dome say that their works carried out in the £16.3 million Pavillon investment should be finished within the next couple of months, and the Brighton Dome Concert Hall will remain open throughout the redevelopment period.